Car Quiver

[Philpug]

Bring a Trailer is a great platform to sell a car, if you have something of interest, in good condition, can describe it and have good pictures. I have been blown away by some of the prices that they are fetching.

I'm rapidly thinking great place to sell, not necessarily to buy. I can't get into details on a current auction, but my son is very interested in a car. He knows them inside and out, and is part of "that crew."

This car was listed on a couple of owners forums and on Craigslist for quite some time. Initially at a price that was considered "insane", then at a lower price that might be 25-35% high. We'll the way this is going, I think it's going to blow through the insane number.

It's GREAT for the seller. And of course it's going to become a new legend, as in "well the black one on BaT sold for...."

It seems like the bidders who were asking questions and making comments are not really knowledgeable about the cars, but intrigued.

Some of what I have seen blows my mind. Meanwhile, off the beaten path, I am seeing some great deals on cars.

BaT would be a great platform for selling a MGTF, methinks.

A Yogi-ism there for sure, like "No one goes there any more, it is too crowded" but I hear what you say, I used Barrett-Jackson auctions as an example there, I woudl want to sell my car in Scottsdale but would want to buy in Palm Springs or Reno (when they were here). I am hoping ot will be successful for my sale (which will go up this week) . Nice Miatas are drawing all the money for sure, better than Craigslist orAbay or even Miata.net. There are cars that are rare and are going for the higher side of fair but considering how much time to woudl take to find a comparable option, they are not bad. I think their fee's are fair, $99 to list and a 5% buyers commission are more than reasonable. I like the way that they vett cars and will mot take everything. They also protect auctions that are currently listed,. There is a 96 Miata w/37K that they are protection from my SBY, hence they held mine back for a few days. I expect the same courtesy when mine goes live. It was not uncommon to see two or three similar cars roll through B-J within 20 minutes.

 

[Muleski]

I think it's a great model. If I had the right car, and they accepted it, no question I would list it there. None whatsoever. Very well run.

I also think that it's a auction process that does find fair market value the huge majority of the time. But if there are outliers, they seem to be on the high side. Again great if selling.

@Philpug, hope it works well for you. I am SURE that it will.

Still going as stealth as I can when buying. HaHa.

 

[Philpug]

Still going as stealth as I can when buying. HaHa.

I have done that too and some cases I have gone in completely open. The previous SBY that we bought I went in saying that I know what the car is, I am not trying to steal it, I have a great Miata history and the car will have a good home, it sealed the deal for me to get it even though others offered more for the car.

 

[Swede]

Love these threads.

I'm not a Boxter fan. Have a number of friends who have them. Classic older guy third car. They love them. Plus, the price point was always too much for me.

The Porsche that I wish I had been serious about was the 911SC, back when they were downright cheap. A mechanic buddy had told me that he felt they were just bullet proof, and a real deal. He was right. Not a deal any more!

@Philpug,

Don't get me started on 911:s
I've had two that I regret a ton that I sold.

A low-mile 1984 Carrera. Mind you this was the Euro unstrangled 3.2 engine. No power zapping AC, manual windows and no sunroof. Sports chassie/interior and limited slip diff as options from factory. Scheiffer blau metallic. That would be a $50.000-60000 car over here today.

A 1990 Carrera 2. Like new when I bought it in 2001, total garage queen. Indish rot with black sports interior. That car was such a sweet ride. Superfast on the track. Sold it a year later cause I needed the money. That could've been a concourse car. Easily $40000 today.

A friend wisely held on to his 1970 911 2.2s. Even though not in super good condition, he'd easily get $80-90 k for it. Easily. Think he paid 20 in 2001.

There's no substitute.

 

[Muleski]

@Swede, I hope you haven't paid attention to the prices for all air-cooled Porsches here in the US over the past two years. I think we may have hit a plateau on the run up, but It's been nuts. So many examples. I have friends who bought cars that were not exceptional, either in model or condition, when this started and doubled their money at the least. WE'd have to hide the firearms and sharp objects at home!

I once owned a 930 Turbo owned by Brock Yates, the editor of Car & Driver. It was stupid to own, I couldn't afford it, we had a lot of other expenses on the horizon. Plus it was downright scary to drive. Very twitchy. If I had any clue what would happen to prices, I would have found a way to keep it and mothballed it. It sure as hell would have out performed any other investment that I've ever made. I think I sold it for a bit more than $10K. People were scared of all of that turbo maintenance. Ha! I have seen a number sell for $250K.

That's OK. My brother had a 1973 Carrera RS 2.7. Bought it after he survived Vietnam, and finished law school. It was sold to help come up with the down payment for his first house. He only cries every now and then about it. He knew it was a special car at the time, which was in the late 70's. Same story. It made no rational sense to own it. He stored it at my parents' house, where they had garages.
But.....who could imagine the eventual prices?

About 25 years ago three of my friends and I were seriously thinking of trying to start an investment fund, investing in cars. We had this pretty well scoped out with serious data to show what was then solid, but not off the wall appreciation. And we assume that we should just blow it on two out of 10. We picked it to so many people. The other three guys are all money/investment guys. This was before the explosion of Private Equity and when nobody though that much out of the box. We had kids to feed, and other jobs, and just gave up.
No guts, no perseverance, and therefore no glory.

A few years ago a friend of mine bought himself a Jag XK120 SE, a 1954, as his 60th birthday gift to himself. It's a nice one. He paid a big price for it. When I saw it and drove it, I commented that It sounded so great. Then I told him that I almost bought one in 1978 for $6000, but I would have had to borrow the money and my dad would have killed me.

Would have. Could have. Should have. Hindsight is always 20-20, but life gets in the way.

When I meet somebody who kept "the car", it kills me. I met an older European guy who game to the US for college. I assume a wealthy family, as when he graduated his dad gave him a 356C, with the four cam engine. He has kept it. It is just incredible. He has turned down $1Mil for it. My dad gave me a handshake and a hug at graduation, and my car was a VW Fastback. Not worth keeping. But my 1973 2002tii.....ouch. Loved that car, so much.

 

[Swede]

Haven't kept track, really. But I know ballpark, prices are n u t s. Over here too. My friend bought a 1971 2.2T unseen (only photo's and been talking to the guy on the phone) from Colorado for $16' in 2010. Trailered it to MN where we lived at that time. He's a real car guy. His father was the founder of one of Scandinavia's biggest classic car mag's. He had SEK which eas very strong so that car, which was clean and nice, is now worth 2-3 times his investment. There might be other equally good ones, but none as fun...
I have driven a fair number of 930:s. Just love them. Had the chance to buy a 1987 once with the werks 330 hp kit for a very reasonable sum, but didn't have the money at the time. Was in the market, then that 1990 C2 emerged, which I bought... Then family ... Otoh, kids are the only thing that fits comfortably in the back, so it's a pretty nice small children family car. But get it before kids. And keep it!
Have never driven a 73 RS. A senior collegue had one in the late 70's. It got stolen and wrecked. He insurance-replaced it with a turbo which was the thing to have at that time, which he sold later for small money ....

 

[Swede]

Maybe we should have a 24H Le Mans-thread?

 

[Swede]

My sad quiver right now is a 1995 E-klass W124 MB and a 2011 Jeep Patriot.

 

[Philpug]

The 80's and 90's japanese are are going up and up now, 3000GT VR4's, RX7's, Supras, heck even Maxima's, Celica's and 200SX's are starting to climb but still are obtainable. Some serious reliable performance out there for the taking.

 

[doc]

Had a friend who had really good luck selling an Audi RS6 and an Audi TT on BaT. Am selling one of my Audi RS4s, and thinking of using BaT for that. Gratuitous pic:

Also in quiver (big Audi fanboy, obviously):
2007 RS4 (black)
2013 RS5
2015 S4
2011 S4
2010 A4 Avant

 

[Muleski]

I would absolutely sell it on BaT. It seems very clear that cars which are clean and exceptionally well presented, will bring top dollar. By well presented, I mean great pro quality pictures. Even pictures of service records. A well thought out description, in plenty of detail.

It seems like sellers who are very engaged, responsive to questions, and who keep it as transparent as possible do well. Almost too well. Answering questions right up until the final bell seems to work.

There is obviously a lot of traffic and interest in BaT on most of the various brand enthusiast forums. And what I hear from my friends is amazement at what many cars fetch. This platform works. I will say that knowledgeable buyers are not exactly diving in.

I have had two businesses that had an online auction pricing event. It is amazing to see human behavior take over. People do not like to lose, and "It's only an extra $500" can run up to still being in the hunt at $5K plus or more in minutes. Emotion, "want" and "I'm not going to lose" are all powerful. The person who has a maxiumum price, and walks away is rare. Normally dealers, or very well informed buyers.

My son has been searching for the right S4 Avant, and he has been blown away by the prices that a number of very high mileage and not that exceptional cars have brought. Even cars with noticeable flaws and big question marks.

A clean RS4, good color, no unknowns and all pluses. I bet it's a home run.

The other factor is the huge number of "fanboys" who just hype cars over and over. Good for sellers. Amazing how many "one of a kind", "only example in the country" and "unicorn" comments are made. Some are almost laughable. I don't think they hurt one bit.

No question in my mind, I'd list on BaT. Just my $.02.

 

[Philpug]

@bbinder sold his Porsche on BaT, I just had great luck selling my 92 Miata on there. I think BaT is a great litmus test to what a car is worth...I think the right car brings high retail...the best part..with minimal work and exposure. My car sold for exactly what I realistically felt it was worth. In my case, next year it will sell for $1K more if put back on with 2-3,000 more. I didn't have people coming to my house to test drive, I didn't deal with tire kickers, I didn't deal with people wanting to trade for their modded GTi or a bag of beans. I think you are dealing with a high quality buyer in BaT.

The Sales Process: the more information you can supply the better and you also have to be "active" in the auction process, but that I mean, be on BaT every day to answer questions, comment and interact and be ready to add more pictures. For $99.00 I don't think there is a better platform than BaT. For the right car, i would use it again without question.

 

[bbinder]

@bbinder sold his Porsche on BaT, I just had great luck selling my 92 Miata on there. I think BaT is a great litmus test to what a car is worth...I think the right car brings high retail...the best part..with minimal work and exposure. My car sold for exactly what I realistically felt it was worth. In my case, next year it will sell for $1K more if put back on with 2-3,000 more. I didn't have people coming to my house to test drive, I didn't deal with tire kickers, I didn't deal with people wanting to trade for their modded GTi or a bag of beans. I think you are dealing with a high quality buyer in BaT.

The Sales Process: the more information you can supply the better and you also have to be "active" in the auction process, but that I mean, be on BaT every day to answer questions, comment and interact and be ready to add more pictures. For $99.00 I don't think there is a better platform than BaT. For the right car, i would use it again without question.

This. 100%. I had a prepurchase inspection performed on my car prior to the auction including a leak down test. I believe that this helped give buyers some confidence in bidding. BaT gave me some pointers on taking pictures, and I took them myself with my iPhone. I have them all the details and they wrote the copy (with my approval). Like Phil said: no tire kickers, joy riders, no hassles with negotiation. My car ended up selling for very close to what Haggerty's valuation tool said that it was worth. And FWIW, my car sold to a dealer/restorer in Florida. I'm hoping that he freshens up the car and sells it for a profit.